Improvement in bridle-bits



cessful.

Uivrrnn Stratus Param @erica NAHUM HAYWARD, OF ROANOKE, INDIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRIDLE-BITS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 122,383, dated January 2,1872; antedated December 23, 1871.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, NAHUM HAYWARD, of Roanoke, in the county ofHuntington and State of Indiana, have invent-ed a certain Improvement in Bridle-Bits 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawing makin g a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure l is an elevation of my improved sliding bit, showing' the cheek-pieces, the sliding bars, the levers, and their connectinglinl;,`aud the rings in. their outer ends. Fig. 2 is a side view, showing the parts above alluded to in a different position. Fig. 3 is an end view, showing the slots in the cheek-pieces for attaching thereins and the head-stall. Fig. 4 is an elevation of one of the levers having the ring formed in its end. Y

Corresponding letters refer to corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to bits to be attached tobridles and head-stalls to be used upon horses 5 and it consists in the con struction, combination,

and arrangementof such bits, as will be more fullyr explained hereinafter.

Various attempts have heretofore been made to construct a bit for horses7 mouths that should be applicable for use upon horses that were docile and easilymanaged,`and upon those vicious and at times `nearly unmanageable 5 but such efforts have, as far as I am aware, been unsuc- My invention is designed to supplyT this want by furnishing a bit which may be used for or upon both ofthe classes of animals above described.

In constructing bits of this character I provide two cheek-pieces, A2, of the form shown, or of any other suitable form that will admit of there bein-g formed in it slots for the reception of the-reins and for straps of the headstall. To these cheek-pieces sliding bars A Al are rmly attached at one4 of their ends, they being semicircular upon their outer ,surfaces and flat upon their inner Vones. These sliding bars are at such a distance apart as to permit `the levers B B to play freely between them, so that as the cheek-pieces approach each' other the bars may-move freely upon the surfaces of the levers. The levers B B above alluded to may be of the form shown in Fig. l, and be provided with rings in their outer ends for the reception of the reins or of' the cheekrein; or they may be of the form shown in Fig. 4, andhave the ring formed in their ends. rIhey are to be placed between the sliding bars A A1, as shown in Fig. 2,' and connected together by a link, B', as shown in Fig. l. To the rings in the outerl ends of' the levers the reins are to be attached when the bit is to be used upon a vicious or hard-mouthed animal, in order that as such reins are pulled upon the levers B B v shall' be made to assume the. positions shown in Fig. l, which operation will press the cheekpieces inward and against the cheeks of the animal, and carry the inner ends ofthe levers up against the roof of the animals mouth and ei'ectually control him.

When the bit is to be used upon docile animals the reins are to be attached to the slots in the` cheek-pieces and the check-rein t0 the rings in the levers, which arrangement will 'permit the parts to remain in the positions indic-ated in Fig. 2; or the cheek-pieces ma-y be still more separated se as'not to bring the levers into operation at all, the sliding bars being of such length as to permit the levers to pass within the space between them, and provided with projections upon their ends, against which the cheek-pieces bear when fully distended.

The form of levers shown in Fig. 4 may be substituted for that shown inl the other figures.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A bit for use in the mouths of horses and other animals, combining in its construction.

Witnesses A. P. KooNrz, B. Gr. MORRISON. 

